Waking Up
by Miss Pontmercy
Summary: When Marius does not die at the barricades, his second chance compels him to fight against his tendency toward depression and inaction. He decides to go to England, against his grandfather's wishes, and search for Cosette again. But what will he find?
1. Paris

**Hey y'all! I 've returned to fanfiction. Please, give this a try. This is a prologue, an introductory chapter. This shoul dbe about three or four chapters. I do hope you like it, and welcome me back!**

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><p>The fever that was sitting heavy in Marius' mind caused everything around him to be a thick, clouded haze. Voices drifted in and around him, but he could not pin them to their owners. The concept of time was utterly lost to him. He felt the constant burn and torture of his wounds, and the absolute refusal to eat anything. He sweat profusely and was cold all throughout. He felt himself speaking but was completely unaware of what he was saying. In moment of lucidity when he most wanted to call out and ask foranyone, to tell him where he was, his voice was lost to him. It was clear he was in a terrible state.<p>

But there was one face... no, not a face, a _concept_ that kept him from going under. The concept was Cosette. It would be completely false, romantic and ridiculous to say he continued to fight to see her once again. In the deep throes of fever, Marius was so far from planning any kind of return to her. But the concept of happiness ahead, the hope for something to fight for, that did keep him holding on. He was obviously still alive; if it was Hell, he'd be in worse pain. If he was in Heaven, he would be happy. So he was not dead.

And if he was not dead, then his story was not done being told. So the possibility of Cosette kept him from sinking under.

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><p>The time did roll by, whether in days or weeks or months Marius did not know. Eventually, he found he could open his eyes and gaze about him as well as sustain conscious thought. He was in his grandfather's house, bedridden. A doctor was caring for him. His shoulder had been horrible dislocated. Marius gathered that he had been spotted at the barricades by a friend of his grandfather's, and one who knew Theodole, and they had brought him home in a carriage.<p>

As his speech grew stronger, he asked his grandfather whether he would stand trial.

"Not with some strings pulled, you won't," his grandfather said with a wink. Uncharacteristic of him to want to pardon a rebel, but Marius did not have the energy to argue. From his place on his bed, Cosette was gone, as were all his friends.

He'd asked for the paper from the day after the fighting, and there it was, clearly in print: Courfeyrac, Jean Prouvaire, Enjolras, Combeferre, all of them, dead, along with "numerous others yet to be identified."

A few more inquiries answered something else: Cosette, nor anyone else for that matter, had come to ask after him. A plea to Basque sent him to the rue plumet and the rue de l'Ouest; she was not there.

He had no idea what became of her, but he knew he had to find her again. As soon as he was well enough to leave the house, Marius took a (well supervised) carriage to Cosette's church. While they visited in the rue plumet, she told him the parish she and her father belonged to. He stayed for every service that Sunday morning, but she did not enter the church.

He returned home that evening exhausted and yet very sure. Cosette was no longer a resident ofFrance. She had gone toLondon, just like she had said.

There was only one thing for it. If he'd been given a second chance at life, Marius would have to make the most of it. He would go toEnglandand find her once more.

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><p>Of course his grandfather refused outright.<p>

"I am not going to let you chase some little girlie all over God-knows-where. I will not pay for a ticket, not ever. Even if you weren't recovering from a near-death experience. Marius, dear, you go to fight to prove something to me, and I understood it. You wanted me to know that I had to take you seriously, you were not a child anymore. Well, you've done it. I take you plenty seriously, I know you make your own choices. You don't need to go toEnglandto prove anything to me, I understand it just fine now. Don't go putting yourself in danger over some pretty lass. There are thousands of pretty lassies inParis, I can find you another one tomorrow if you wish. Once you're well again I'll invite all the girls I know from all the families I'm friends with, we'll have a party, you'll forget all about this one before you can say-"

"No, Grandfather," Marius said, gritting his teeth. "I did not fight to prove you a point about my decisiveness. I told you that if you did not let me marry Cosette, I would kill myself. She left forEngland, I tried to keep my promise, but fate intervened. There's only one thing left for me to do. I have to find her. If I don't, I'll never be happy again."

"Oh," Grandfather said, rolling his eyes. "Don't be ridiculous, Marius. You're not even twenty-two. How could you know you'll never be happy again?"

"I have to try," Marius said, growing very angry. "Grandfather, please. I know I can't go until I'm well enough to travel, but if you don't let me go I'll leave right now, in my sickly state, and refuse food and live on the streets. I'm perfectly content to die without her- my friends are gone, and if I can't go find her, she's gone too."

"Marius," his grandfather said, turning very pale.

"No, Grandfather. You don't understand, you've never met her. You don't understand how much I love her. I won't live without her. I'll leave right this minute if you refuse."

"Marius, stop it," his grandfather said, finally looking shaken. "Don't say things like that."

With that, the old man left and locked himself in his study for the remainder of the day, and most of the following morning.

While Marius lay fuming, thinking and rethinking the previous conversation, his grandfather strode defiantly back into the room.

"You are to write every day. And for God's sake, I am buying you a new suit before you go."

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><p><strong>Thoughts? Reviews?<strong>


	2. Alone in London

It took until of January in 1833 before Marius could make his way toEngland. He was out of danger by October, but he could not stand for an extended period of time without getting dizzy. It took until December for him to be strong enough to ascend stairs and walk down the street alone, and until January before he was confident enough in his health to be on his own. By the time his ticket was procured and his travel arrangements made, he was panicking.

It had been seven months since he had last seen Cosette- so many things could have happened since then. She could be betrothed to someone else, she could have forgotten him. For goodness' sake, there had been a cholera epidemic and the street riots. Anything could have happened. He had faith, however. He knew he still loved her, but he was also rational and knew that their short time together followed by this long time apart could mean something detrimental.

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><p>"Farewell, Grandfather," Marius said, about to board the carriage that would take him to Calais. "I shall write as soon as I reach England."<p>

"I want you to write every day," the old man ordered.

"Every day is surely a bit excessive," Marius said, furrowing his brow.

The old man's stern look was enough to make Marius agree. He embraced his grandfather.

"Thank you, Grandfather. Without you I'd never have the chance to find her again," he said, not wanting to point out that it was the old man's fault that he'd lost her in the first place. "I cannot wait to introduce you. You will love her."

"Yes, yes, all that. But come home soon," Gillenormond said.

"I hope to be home before February is through," Marius said with high hopes. "Perhaps within the next three weeks even."

"Have a safe trip, Marius."

Marius tried to keep his thoughts from all of the horrible ways this trip could end, but the tedious rocking of the ship provided very little distraction. Marius had never been on an extended boat ride before, and quickly found out that he was prone to seasickness. He spent the hours of the crossing bent nauseously over the side of the boat, trying not to be sick and thinking of Cosette rejecting him.

"Why, Monsieur," she'd say distantly. "I gave up on you months ago! When you never came back for me, I just thought you left. I have a new fiance now, Monsieur Snobbish-Dandy..."

For some reason her new fiance always resembled his cousin Theodole in these fantasies.

"No, no," Marius said, shaking off the thought. "She loved you. What you had with her was more than some flirtatious fling. She'll welcome you back with open arms and you'll never be apart again!

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><p>When the ship docked inEngland, Marius stayed in a lonely inn for a few nights before he could take a carriage toLondon, all the while praying that that was where she and her father had ended up.<p>

Once he reached London, he went to the immigration offices. He was not planning on becoming a citizen and was only staying as a visitor, but he thought it was a worthwhile place to check. He thought that since Monsieur Fauchelevent had moved there with plans for business, he must have citizenship or at least a work visa. But alas, the name Fauchelevent was nowhere to be found.

Marius went to sleep on his first night in London discouraged. He was staying in a tiny room above a pub; the room retained the smell of smoke and the foul smell of the waste of the streets outside his was dark and disgusting, compared toParis' grandeur and beauty. Marius spoke English, it was true, but not well and he was a Frenchman at heart. He could only just communicate with the crumpled, elderly woman who ran the inn. She seemed kindly enough as she served breakfast in the morning, but he had no desire to make friends here.

"I'll be sure to find her today," Marius said with great trust. "Then I'll be back on a ship to France in a week."

Marius had done a great deal of research before setting off on his journey and knew several neighborhoods that Cosette and her father were most likely to reside in, given their income and foreign situation.

But the first day held no luck for Marius. He walked through the first neighborhood, but did not make it to a dozen apartment buildings by the end of the day. He asked the landlords about Cosette's father, gave a name and a description, but was always met with a puzzled look.

The entire first week was just as fruitless, as was the next. Marius retired each night with aching feet and a heavy heart. He penned a few notes to his grandfather in this time, but did not want to admit his failure. The old man could very quickly rescind his financial support of Marius' expedition, and then where would he be? He needed to make it seem like he was making progress.

Marius went to public parks, hoping to stumble into her as he had in those blesses days in the Luxembourg. He went to as many Christian churches as he could, but there were far too many parishes to keep track of, and anyway, Cosette and her father were Catholic.

He asked the police, but they had no record of a Fauchelevent. Marius began to worry that Cosette and her father were staying here illegally, or under a different name. That could hardly be, but he retreated from the police station without further inquiry, so as not to get them into any trouble if that was the case.

By mid-February, Marius awoke each morning with a sick feeling in his stomach, and nothing that happened during the days could alleviate it. It seemed that Cosette was nowhere to be found.

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><p><strong>Please review this if you like it!<strong>


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